Feel your inner batteries recharging through the pink-colored blossoms, captured by the melancholic charm of the season: in the Imperial Palace Garden in Kyoto, in parks all over the Land of the Rising Sun, even in the streets of Tokyo – it is a sensation that spreads all over Japan! Come April, the cherry blossom season seems to slow down the country’s dynamic rhythm for a precious couple of days.

That Japan is still an insider tip on the touristic world map is nothing short of a miracle: it has so many facets, has so much more to offer than just its large cities which yet shape our impression of it – ski slopes in the North, long beaches in the South, spectacular spas in the mountains, green landscapes in its heartland, hiking trails spanning thousands of kilometers. Japan is the present, in some places it feels as if it were straight out of a science fiction novel, but Japan also allows us to travel back to a long-gone time with mysterious traditions and strange rites. It is a country that awakes tremendous curiosity and touches all of the senses, smell and taste included.

Those with a passion for exploring the roots of a nation can do so in Japan, not only during cherry blossom season, but all year round. We would love to arrange this for you – with a stay at the Amanemu Luxury Resort & Onsen Spa above the Ago Bay for instance. This is Japan at its finest.

Foto: © Jnto

It feels so nice to sit on an elegant couch in the heart of Paris, drink coffee or sip champagne while having a chat, and to let the personal assistant bring the desired outfits so you can decide which ones you would like to try on – in your private VIP lounge. All this without having to experience any department store frenzy, and not just anywhere, but in the legendary shopping temple Galeries Lafayette. On a weekend trip together with your girlfriends for example! Or with your partner? It could also be just you and your credit card – and a blissful smile on your face.

3,500 brands are concentrated below the gigantic glass dome of Europe’s leading department store, which boasts 70,000 squaremeters, including five private VIP lounges with their own restrooms and a 400-squaremeter private shopping suite that comes with its own terrace. How do you get access? With our help, that is easy. What do you need? Time, a passion for fashion – and for shopping. Your personal fashion consultant will assist you: we will let them know when you arrive and if you like, we can let them in on your personal taste in advance.

Foto: © Galeries Lafayette – Voisin Thibaut

No one knows when this party started or who initiated it. It just is, every night, all year long – since always. It starts somewhere around the late afternoon, right around the time when the first carts of the cookshops start rolling to the borders of the big square underneath the Koutoubia Mosque. During winter, it ends around midnight, when it starts getting poignantly cold. During summer nights however, it takes until the crack of dawn before the sounds of countless tambourines will start to fade – before the fires die out, the sword swallowers call it a day, the snake charmers take home their reptiles, the last attendees finish their drink and go back through the labyrinthine alleys of the Medina to their hidden palace hotels or private villas: what an experience!

It is a festivity that is celebrated every night at the market place Djemma el Fna in the heart of the royal Moroccan city of Marrakesh, situated in the High Atlas. Nobody needs an invitation, there are no entrance tickets: if you have seen it once, it is hard to forget. You want to see it, admire it and experience it for yourself? We know the best hotels, are able to share insider tips – and we look forward to telling you more about the wonderful city that is Marrakesh.

Foto: © Four Seasons Hotels, Alan Keohane www.still-images.net All rights reserved

Foto: © Six Senses Hotels, Resorts & Spa

The short cut on the way to the hotel is not for the faint-hearted: it is an experience which will stay with you forever. The run-up is only a couple of steps until you daringly take off on the edge of the cliff into the valley. You will glide past rugged mountains towards the Indian Ocean and land right in front of the portal of the hotel. The ‘Six Senses Zighy Bay’ on the Omani peninsula of Musandam offers this kind of arrival per paraglider upon request. Those who take a chance on this tandem jump with an experienced pilot are spared a 10-minute drive in an SUV along serpentine roads down to the magnificently remote hotel – and on average, they only need half the time to arrive.

Bizarre mountains are towering as if a giant had built them in a single sweep of a hand a million years ago by shoving together two heaps of earth. Musandam borders on the road from Hormuz on the origin of the Persian Golf: long overlooked, distant to the world, still largely unexplored, with a population of less than 30,000 people and mountains surpassing 2,000 meters – and with one of the most atmospheric hotels in the world. Every accommodation of the ‘Six Senses Zighy Bay’ is equipped with a private pool, peaceful tranquility, sublime nature – and all the amenities of a luxury resort!

Some travel destinations you do not just come up with – you do not think of them right away. You first need to see this wowing picture, to hear friends enthusiastically tell you about their vacation there. Montenegro is that kind of destination. And when you finally read that a world-class luxury hotel just opened there in July and that others are bound to soon follow, then this kind of destination suddenly climbs to the top of your travel bucket list: the new ‘Chedi Luštica Bay’ (111 rooms and suites) is the reason for this – with its location right in front of the new yacht-filled marina, its incredible view over the ocean and with this highly praised light and modern style that is so typical for this hotel.

And one more argument to be made, not related to either style or price: Montenegro averages 270 sunny days per year, providing ideal vacation prospects. Which hotel will be next to open its doors here? One&Only would be one example. When are you flying there? We have all the information you need – and the best contacts!

Foto: © Lobster Experience